Sunday, June 03, 2012

Original Face

Lately I've had the urge to search for some zen koans. This morning I found one while reading samples of Thomas Moore's Original Self over at amazon. It's all I've really got energy for right now. I just got done working five days in a row carrying mail for the post office, and I'm possibly looking at working three more starting tomorrow. It seems like once I work over two to three days in a row carrying mail it has a negative effect on me. I become less creative, imaginitive, and my range of emotions starts to narrow. I think the only thing that stops them from narrowing to the point where I feel hopeless and imprisoned is that I know there is an ending date. In other words, I'm not a full time worker.

I don't know how full time rural route mail carriers do it. The carrier I substitute for works six out of seven days a week, and he's in his late sixties. I admire it in a way, but I know it wouldn't work me. And this leads to the zen koan:

What was your original face before you were born?--Zen koan

Hell, right now I have no idea. I think there are just to many layers spun over that face. Of course, like I alluded to above, the layers thicken the more I work. But I bet if I got the boat ready and took the kids fishing today the layers would lessen a bit. The problem is that I've got a lawn to mow, trees to water, and a Little League baseball practice to coach tonight.